Times Like These
by gleeklainer.xo
Summary: Set in the year 2032, Kurt and Blaine Anderson-Hummel are happy, they are living in Manhatten wit their two daughters. What will a surprise diagnosis do to their lives? Set a lot off my personal experiences. Sorry I suck at summaries. Rated K just to be safe.
1. Introduction

**Set in the year 2031, Kurt and Blaine Anderson-Hummel are happy, they are living in Manhatten wit their two daughters. What will a surprise diagnosis do to their lives? Set a lot off my personal experiences. Sorry I suck at summaries.**

Life is good. Kurt and Blaine are about to celebrate their 16th wedding had two daughters, Claire, who is now 11, and Keira, who is 6. Both the girls were are intelligent and are excelling in school. Claire loves music, math and animals and some may say she has a master memory. Keira is not very interested in music and singing, she prefers sports and is on her schools soccer team.

Kurt and Blaine were succeding in their careers. Kurt was still working for Vogue. Music is one of the most amazing things to him, but fashion will always have a place in his heart that music just can't touch. He was doing very well at his job at Vogue, he became the manager, or "big boss" as he liked to call it, a few years ago afer Isabelle's retirement.

Blaine is now a singer/song writer and now has 3 record deals. He loves his job and writing songs from his personal experiences. Going on tour was always fun, however he often missed his family and wished they could all come too.

Keira has always been a little social butterfly, she is friends with pretty much her entire first grade class and is even incredibly friendly and talkative with her teachers.

Claire, on the other hand, has always been just a bit different to other people. She has never been good at making friends, eye contact is a struggle and she never knows the right thing to say. She has an undying love for animals and she spends hours a day reading about them. Other people never understand her strange antics. She always seems to be in her own world. Kurt and Blaine notice the differences in their daughter but they always put if off as her being quirky and interesting.

 **A/N: So this is my first chapter/ introduction. I have very little writing experience so I'm not great at it. The character of Claire is based off of a slightly younger version of me.**


	2. New School

**A/N: So here is chapter 2! I'm sorry I havn't updated in so long, I was on holiday for 4 weeks and I just started my GCSE's so I havn't had too much time on my hands. But here you go! Thanks for all the nice reviews!**

 **Review replies:**

 **Dothechachaslide: I like the suggestion ;-) and thank you.**

 **Brighteyes421: Thank you, it was hard to think of the names for them. Nice suggestion about Claire, Your friend's son sounds awesome.**

 **SenseiGrace: Thank you, it's nice to be here! That would be awesome, I need all the help I can get, PM me.**

"Claire, get up, time for school, I want you to have breakfast before getting dressed from now on." Kurt shouted through his eldest daughter's bedroom door. Today was Claire's first day of grade 6 and Keira's first day of grade one.

"But, why can't I get dressed first, that's what I've been doing since kindergarten?. Claire replied through the door. She was already getting upset by the sudden new change, this was not a good start.

"Because I don't want you to go back to sleep and be late for your first day." Kurt replied. They all knew how bad Claire was at getting up in the morning.

Claire was very anxious for the day ahead. She was starting a new school that day due to relentless bullying at her old school. She had no friends at her old school and was a complete outcast. It was hard for her to manage with all the cliques forming and she was left on her own. No one knew why it was so hard for her to manage.

After waking up his daughter Kurt went over to their small kitchen to start making breakfast for the girls. Blaine had to leave the house before anyone else got up in order to battle the horrendous traffic he faced on his way to work.

A few minutes later, after the pancakes and orange juice had been set out on the table, Keira came running in from her bedroom.

"Hey honey, you look lovely today!" Kurt told the child. She was getting very good at dressing herself. He had been teaching well.

"Thanks Papa." She replied. Keira was very excited to meet her new class and teacher and to see her friends again after summer vacation. Claire then appeared, dressed in her hoodie and jeans. There were two problems with that, One, Kurt specifically asked her to come to breakfast before getting changed, and two, the outfit was nothing special, it was a hoodie and jeans for goodness sake.

"Claire, I told you to eat breakfast before you get dressed." He exclaimed.

"I know, I couldn't do it, I have always gotten dressed first and I didn't see the point in changing it now." She replied.

Kurt didn't argue back, He knew all too well how his daughter acts around changes. He was unsure as to how she would manage in a new environment with new people later that day.

Once both girls had finished their breakfasts, Kurt packed their lunches and drove them to school. Claire rode in the front seat with Kurt and Keira sat in the back in her booster seat.

"I'm really scared about today." Claire confessed whilst in the car to school. "What if no one likes me and I get bullied again."

"Everything will be okay, I promise, it's normal to have some jitters before your first day at a new school, you will make pleanty of friends and the teachers will love your big brain." Kurt said to try and comfort his daughter.

They dropped Keira off at her elementary school and carried on to Claire's new school. Kurt noticed that as the car ride went on, Claire got quieter and more nervous.

"You'll be fine today, if there are any problems you can always go to one of the teachers, they are all there to help you." He told her.

When they pulled up to the school Claire got out the car without hugging her dad or saying goodbye. Kurt just watched as she walking into her new school.

He was undoubtedly nervous for her, she didn't cope well in new environments but sure anything would be better than death threats and getting beaten up at her old school.

"Hello class, welcome to grade 6. My name is Mr Fox and I am your new homeroom teacher. We have a new student with us today, so Claire would you like to come up and introduce yourself." Mr Fox told the group or preteens. He was annoyingly enthusiastic.

Claire really didn't want to stand up in front of 30 kids she didn't know and tell them about herself, she shook her head at her teacher to say that she didn't want to.

"No, not really." She told him quietly. Some of the kids in the class laughed but Claire didn't know what was so funny.

"I'm not taking no for an answer, come up and tell the class about yourself." He told her.

Claire reluctantly stood up and walked to the front of the class and began talking quietly.

"Hello, I'm Claire Anderson-Hummel, I'm from Manhattan and I love animals." She told the class.

The rest of the day was nothing special, the classes were very similar to her old school.

She got the subway home from school and, to her surprise, their friends Tina and Artie were visiting with their kids, 7-year-old twins, Oscar and Lillie.

"Hey sweetie, how was your first day of school?" Blaine asked his daughter as she walked through the door.

Claire just shrugged and started to walk across the lounge to her bedroom on the other side on the apartment.

"Did you make ant friends?" Kurt asked her.

Claire turned around and shook her head before heading off to her room again.

"Well its only the first day, she has plenty of time to make friends." Kurt said to the group but he knew they were all thinking the same thing. They were all worried that she may not make friends again.

"I just don't understand why it's so hard for her to talk to people and form friendships." Blaine said.

"She'll catch up, it's always hard in a new school were friendships have already been formed." Tina said and everyone else agreed and dropped the subject.

 **A/N: So there is chapter 2! I hope you liked it and please leave a review.**


	3. Answers?

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I lost this chapter twice due to errors from the website. I've had a lot of medical stuff going on lately and with my schoolwork and my weekend job to do on top of that, I really haven't had a lot of time to write.**

 **Review replies:**

 **Brighteyes421: Thank you! Yeah it is hard being the new kid but I think she's doing well. I think Kurt's decision not to fight that was good too.**

* * *

It was a month since Claire started at her new school and so far had been a bit overwhelming but otherwise okay. She had been teased a little bit but nothing bad. It was actually a lot better than her old school now that she had settled in a little. She still hadn't made any friends yet, but that was something she was used to, she actually preferred it that way, no one to bother her or to tell her what to do.

On Friday evening she was back in her small room in the apartment. All the homework had been completed so she was drawing animals on her desk. Keira had two friends over for a sleepover so Claire tried as best as she could to stay away from the three six-year-olds. She just wanted to draw in peace and not be interrupted by small hyperactive children.

That was wishful thinking.

"Claire! Come play mice with me, Tara and Mollie." Keira shouted through her sister's bedroom door.

"No, I'm busy, ask papa to play with you if your that desperate" She yelled back. How would someone even play mice?

"Papa's reading vogue, he doesn't want to be disturbed"

"Not playing mice, go away and stop bothering me" Claire sighed, Keira was really starting to get on her nerves.

Keira huffed and stomped off. She was a little drama queen sometimes.

* * *

Today was not going to be a good day. Claire could sense it.

Fourth period-Math her favourite lesson with her favourite teacher.

However when she walked into the classroom she looked over at the desk a saw a supply teacher.

This was not going to be fun.

Moth kids loved supplies. They could just sit back, relax, play on their phones, and just mess around. Claire was not one of these kids. She just wanted to get on with her work and actually do well in school. having all the other kids messing around was really distracting and she could never concentrate on getting on with her work. She often thought she was the only one here who wanted to do well in school.

"Hello class. I am Miss Lowney. I'm your supply teacher for this lesson. Miss Clarke can not be here today as her son is unwell and she needed to stay home and take care of him. I have been given this sheet on simplifying fractions for you to do today." She told the class in her boring, monotone voice.

The first half of the lesson was tolerable, sure the boys were being loud, obnoxious and just annoying but she managed to drown them out. However in the second half, it got too much. The noise of chatter was all-encompassing. It felt like worms wriggling inside her brain, trying to escape. It was all becoming too much too handle. Tears were forming in her eyes. She needed to leave as soon as possible.

Claire put her hand up to try to get the teacher's attention, but she was busy telly the boys off for messing about. Finally, a few long minutes later she notices Claire and goes over to her.

"Do you need help with the work?" She asked.

"I need to leave." Claire told her.

Miss Lowney immediately let her go, telling her that she could go to the guidance councillor's office.

Claire got up from her seat, got her bag and left the room. When she was out she was continuously muttering "I'm okay" under her breath, trying to calm herself down, but she was only getting more upset.

She got to Mr Sullivan, the guidance councillor's, office and knocked on the door, opening it when she heard a faint "Come in" from the inside.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked him.

"Ah, I have a meeting due in a couple of minutes but you could go to Miss Keen's office, its right next to room three. Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah, thanks." She said and walked off.

She found Miss Keen's room with no difficulty, it was a bit of a walk across the large school ground though. She opened the door and saw a young woman typing something on her computer.

"Hi. I'm Claire Anderson-Hummel. Mr Sullivan sent me here to talk to you." She said timidly.

"Yes, he emailed me about that. I'm Miss Keen, I'm the school's SENCO. Come in and take a seat. I have some fidget items if you want to use any of them, I find some people find it easier to talk about stuff when they are doing something with their hands. I also have a few weighted toys because being weighted down can make some people feel calmer. Do you want to tell me what's been going on then?" She asked in a kind voice.

"Yeah, I was in Math and it was okay at first but then the noise started really upsetting me and I couldn't take my mind off it. It felt like the noise was consuming me whole and I couldn't take it. I hope that made sense." She explained. Claire had no clue what a SENCO was but she honestly couldn't be bothered to ask.

"Yes, that made perfect sense. Thank you for explaining that to me Claire, That was really helpful for me to understand how you feel. Are there any other sensory things that upset you or make you feel uncomfortable?"

"Yeah, there are quite a lot. I hate certain noises. I hate being sticky and the feeling of sand. I don't like people touching me. I don't like how a lot of things smell. There are quite a lot."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me that."

As they were talking, Miss Keen was noticing more and more little things in Claire that raised concern. Claire never made eye contact with her, she had quite a monotone voice, she didn't use many facial expressions, she was gently rocking in her chair as they talked. All these different things put together made her wonder weather this was a child who just was a little different or weather this was a child who needed a medical diagnosis and additional help.

"How are your friendships Claire?" She asked kindly.

"Nonexistent."

"Okay. Do you want to tell me a little more about that please."

"I've never really had any friends. I try to talk to people but they are just mean sometimes. I don't like having lots of people talking to me and telling me what to do, so friends and just hard." She explained.

"Thank you for telling me that, its really helpful. Its your lunch break now so we are going to end this here. I thought this little chat was good for the both of us. I'll see you around the school, Okay."

"Okay, bye." Claire said as she got up and left the room.

* * *

Later that evening, after the family had eaten their dinner they got a call on the house phone.

"Hello." Blaine said as he picked up the phone.

"Hi. It this Kurt or Blaine Anderson-Hummel?" The voice said.

"This is Blaine speaking." He replied.

"Ah good. This is Lucy Keen. I'm the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at Eastbrooke middle school. I would like to have a meeting in the school with you and your husband about your daughter Claire." She told him. Blaine was instantly worried when her heard her.

"Is everything okay, she's not being bullied again is she?" He asked.

"No she's not being bullied. Claire got quite upset in math class today and I had a little talk with her. When we were talking I noticed a few things that were brought to my attention. I want to talk to you guys to see if there is anything we could possibly do to help her feel more comfortable and happy at school. Does that sound okay with you?"

"Yeah that sounds okay. I think Thursday would be good for the meeting."

"Thursday is clear for me. So if you and Kurt would like to drop by the office then and they'll show you guys where to go from there."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. I there anything else?"

"Nope, that's all I wanted to say. Thank you, bye."

"Bye." Blaine said as he heard the familiar ring of the line going dead.

* * *

Blaine walked over to his and Kurt's room to tell him about the surprise phone call.

"I just got a call from Claire's school. We have to go in for a meeting on Thursday."

"Is everything okay? Is it more bullying?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"No its not bullying. They want to see if there's anything they can do to make school life a bit easier for her." He explained.

"Okay. I think we all just want her to have school be a good experience, not a bad one." Kurt said, still a bit worried.

"Yeah, I agree." Blaine replied as he went to turn the light off to go to sleep.

* * *

Kurt and Blaine were at their eldest daughter's school at 1 on the following Thursday. They had been a bit worried about what the teacher was going to say to them. The lady at the office showed them where to go to get to Miss Keen's office.

"Hi Kurt, Blaine, I'm Miss Keen. So I had a little talk with Blaine on the phone a few days ago about Claire and I want to go into more detail here and see what we can do for her. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah that sound good." Kurt replied and Blaine nodded in agreement.

"Right. So I have noticed a few things about Claire when we talked on Monday that caught my attention and I want t0 bring them up to you today. I have noticed that Claire is having struggles making friends and I think she is a little different, of course everyone is different in their own way but I think Claire is more different. I have brought this up with other members of staff and they all agree with my findings. Claire has a lot of signs and behaviours that have lead us to believe that she may be autistic. I think it would be a good idea for me to refer her to get a formal ASD assessment. We can't do anything without your permission though." She explained.

"Wow, okay, that's a bit of a surprise. I would say that she should be assessed. Anything that could make her life easier and that could get her more support is good." Kurt said.

"Yeah I completely agree with that. What stuff has lead you to come to this conclusion?" Blaine asked.

"Well she clearly struggles socially, she has quite a monotone voice and not many different facial expressions, she takes things very literally, she seems to go on endlessly about the same subject, she is a total whiz with numbers, she has a fantastic route memory, she doesn't really look people in the eye when she's talking to them, she seems to do a lot of repetitive, self-soothing actions, she seems to get along better with teachers then with other students. there are a lot of factors contributing to this."

"Okay, that does sound very accurate about her." Kurt agreed

"Right, so I am going to refer her then and you guys will receive a form to fill out about when Claire was little and you could post that to the service or give it to me and I could do it. That's about it for today. Do you have anything else you want to say? Any questions?"

"I don't have anything to add." Blaine told the woman.

"Me neither." Kurt added.

"Okay. I'm glad we could have this meeting and I will get to you guys again shortly." Miss Keen told them as they got up to leave.

* * *

When Claire and Keira arrived home from school they were surprised to see both their parents were working from home.

"Claire, your daddy and I want to talk to you quickly. Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Kurt told his daughter when she entered the room.

"Okay." She replied and plopped herself down onto the couch.

"So we had a little chat with a nice lady from your school today and you have been referred to be assessed for autism. Do you know what autism is?"

"I've heard of it but I don't really know what it is." She replied.

"Basically autism is something that the school thinks you have and it means that your brain works a little bit differently to most people's. When you have autism you find it hard making friends and you can get easily overwhelmed by a lot of sensory input." Blaine explained to her.

"Yes, but autism can bring cool gifts with it as well. Autistic people often have very good memories, are often good at math and know a lot about specific subjects." Kurt added.

"Like me and animals. Wow this makes a lot of sense."

"Yeah exactly. You are on the waiting list to go to a special kind of doctor to see for sure if you're autistic or not." Kurt told her.

"How do they test for it?" Claire asked.

"Well it's not like a normal test. There is no scans or needles or anything like that involved. They would ask you a few questions and play some games and see if they think you're autistic or not." Blaine explained.

"Okay. That actually doesn't sound that bad. Can I go to my room now?"

"Yes you can go to your room now." Kurt laughed in reply.

They had a feeling that this would be a long process.

* * *

 **A/N: Well that took 6 hours to write. I'm super tired now. Fanfiction basically started crashing on me and deleted this whole chapter right when I was near the end so I had to rewrite the whole thing! :-(**

 **Reviews are like candy to me!**


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